DETROIT (WXYZ) — During his 34 years with the Detroit Police Department, 19 of those years in the homicide division, there isn't much, if anything, Kenneth Gardner hasn't seen, including the bodies of children who have been murdered.
"We all see children differently. These are innocent children who haven't had a chance in life," said Gardner. "And when you see this happening to children, it has a more profound effect, absolutely."
While a lieutenant investigating homicides in Detroit, Gardner also began studying clinical psychology. In this video, he recalls an interview with a murder suspect that led him in that direction.
Gardner now works with Harold J. Love & Associates as a clinical psychologist with a focus on mental health counseling for police and other first responders, helping them integrate the trauma they see and feel into their lives.
"When officers tried to deal with it on their own, they can have what was called a false resilience and in a false resilience, you begin to experience emotional shutdown, you may start to get a little distant, get a bit cold, you lose your empathy and things of that nature. So, it becomes for us, how do we teach an officer to properly integrate this into their lives," Gardner told 7 Action News. "We want to give you healthier ways to be able to bring this into your life because you can't unsee it."
And that kind of trauma will likely be experienced by the FBI agent who found Wynter Cole-Smith Wednesday evening as well as Detroit police, and other law enforcement officers who saw the toddler's body in an alley on Detroit's east side.
"That's a traumatic experience for officers. That becomes cumulative," Gardner said.
In addition to his clinical work, Gardner teaches interrogation and interviewing to new detectives with Detroit police.
And it's what he's learned by tracking down and talking to some of the most hardened criminals, that helplessness and hopelessness is a dangerous combination in too many communities across Michigan and the country.
"If we can move society, our community, not to feel helpless, they won't feel hopeless," Gardner said. "So how do we make them feel hopeful? We have to put things in place, make things accessible for people. People want a chance."
"We got to revitalize hope and get them out of that helpless mode," he said.
For information on Kenneth Gardner and his colleagues at Harold J. Love & Associates Psychological Services, you can call 248-599-7522 or visit their website at haroldjlove.com.
